Michael Grace is an associate dean of the College of Science at Florida Tech and a professor of biological sciences. He is holding a Dumeril?s ground boa from Madagascar.

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Betty Porter | For FLORIDA TODAY

A research project going on at Florida Tech involves teaching snakes - so that hopefully, they can teach us a thing or two.

Michael Grace, an associate dean of the College of Science at Florida Tech and a professor of biological sciences, earned a three-year, $369,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his work on the mechanisms of infrared imaging in pit vipers, pythons and boas.

Those snakes are able to sense very low-energy infrared photons, giving them the upper hand in locating prey and alerting them to predators. ...